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RLB
Death Dealer
USA
Member Since: |
 Posted - 03/10/2005 : 3:07:57 PM
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This is meant as a starting guide to airsoft and to the Airsoft Retreat Community. When you registered, you should have thoroughly read the ‘Rules and Policies Agreement’ for this site ( http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/policy.asp ).
To reiterate an important point in the ‘Rules and Policies Agreement’; By pressing the "Agree" button, you agree that you, the user, are 13 years of age or over. You are fully responsible for any information or file supplied by this user. You also agree that you will not post any copyrighted material that is not owned by yourself or the owners of these forums. In your use of these forums, you agree that you will not post any information which is vulgar, harassing, hateful, threatening, invading of others privacy, sexually oriented, or violates any laws.
This is the "Official Forums Membership Rules":
http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=57962
Do not just bypass them, read and understand them. They can help you avoid problems down the road.
Post counts & rank:
General: 3500 - 5 stars
Colonel: 2000 - 4 stars
Major: 1000 - 3 stars
Captain: 500 - 2 stars
Sergeant: 100 - 1 star
Rank is representative of post count only and may not be indicative of a person's knowledge of airsoft. Post whoring to increase post count can result in a reduction of your post count & rank.
Moderators are designated with gray stars.
Administrators are designated with red stars.
Your next step should be to go to our "FAQ" section: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/faq.asp . This will answer a number of basic questions that you might have.
We encourage you to explore all areas and sections within this site, as well as familiarizing yourself with the various icon functions and links. As you look into each individual forum, observe the "stickies" listed in the beginning of the listed topics. A "sticky' is a valuable topic which all members can find useful. They will often give information which will answer commonly asked questions, compile review information, gun photos, and often give you a general education of the forum section.
An invaluable tool for every airsofter is the SEARCH FUNCTION - http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/search.asp
A quick search will answer most of your questions. Please use it as it will save yourself and other members much time, as well as preventing other members from flaming you for not searching.
AVOID THESE COMMON MISTAKES WHEN POSTING:
VAGUE TOPIC TITLES: Topic titles need to give enough details so anyone can look at the title and know EXACTLY what the subject is going to be about, or what the SPECIFIC question will be, WITHOUT having to waste potential time to go into the thread to figure this out. In other words there should be no guesswork. Titles like; "I have a question", "Which gun?", "Need help", "Super 9", "Which is better", "MP5?" (and the list goes on) are not acceptable. Typically the whole thread will be deleted if there is a Vague Topic Title.
RESTATE YOUR QUESTION FROM THE TITLE IN THE BODY OF THE MESSAGE: Simple enough. If the question from your title is not restated in the body of your message, the thread may get deleted.
DOUBLE OR TRIPLE POSTS: Back to back posts in a thread. Use the edit function to avoid or fix this problem.
USELESS POSTS: Comments that do not contribute substance to a thread: Single word comments, posts that do not need to be said, comments that include insults or flames, etc. Making useless posts or topics is typically considered Post Whoring and will result in a reduction of both rank and post count.
INLAMMATORY POSTS- FLAMES: Insults, derogatory remarks, antagonistic remarks, name-calling, demeaning comments, etc. is unacceptable and will be dealt with by mods & admin accordingly.
REVIVING OLD THREADS - NECROPOSTING: Always be aware of the date post of the thread before responding. Many old threads are "dead" for a reason (The question has been answered, the author of the thread is no longer interested, the author of the thread is no longer on AS-R, etc). Before you revive an old thread, consider if your post will be a productive one, justifying the revival of the thread. Do not just respond to an old thread with useless remarks that adds nothing to the thread. If you uselessly revive an old topic expect at least a warning from a moderator to not repeat this action.
FAILURE TO ADHERE TO THE "USER AGREEMENT" AND ANY RULES & GUIDELINES ON AS-R CAN RESULT IN ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION AGAINST YOUR ACCOUNT. For your information the following are moderator/administrative actions to be aware of:
1) Posted warning within a thread:This is essentially a "cease & desist" order. You have committed a violation which needs to stop immediately. Editing, removing or altering posts & comments made by moderators & administrators is a serious offense which could get you banned.
2) Email warning: Essentially the same as #1, a "cease & desist" order. You have committed a violation which needs to stop immediately.
3) Post count reset to zero or dramatically reduced: Typically an action punishing post whores or those who make useless posts, but can be utilized to punish other infractions.
4) Rank frozen or reduced: Same as #3.
5) Probation: You have not heeded the previous warning(s) and this places you one step away from being banned.
6) BANNED: You went too far. If someone has blantantly violated the "User Aggreement" or any rules, they will be BANNED IMMEDIATELY WITHOUT WARNING.
It is standard procedure on AS-R when pornographic material is posted by a member that that member is immediately banned by admin. This prevents any continued spamming of such material should the person be so inclined to do so.
If the member did not do this offense, he will need to work outside of this forum (via email to admin) to give reasonable assurance it was not him. Everyone needs to understand how serious an offense this is, and we (mods & admin) do not want to possibly allow someone who is capable of such an offense to remain as a member of AS-R.
Here is an explanation of the icons that typically appear above your post next to the date stamp:
 - Show Profile - shows contact information and bio of another member, as well as posts made by member. This can also be done by clicking on the member's name
 - Email Poster - please use this rather than posting a topic to get in contact with another member. Can also be found in the user profile. Opens pop-up window
 - Edit Reply - This will allow you to change things (add or delete) within your post.
 - opens a new window to the member's homepage
 - sends an AOL Message to the member. Opens pop-up window
 - sends an ICQ Message to the member. Opens pop-up window
 - click to see member's MSN Messenger Address. Opens pop-up window
 - Reply With Quote - quotes another member. Use this to make a direct response and direct reference to a post made by another member
 - This will delete your post or topic if shown.
The following are some ‘quick help’ links to get you familiar with what AS-R has to offer.
Basic information on the sport of airsoft - http://www.airsoftretreat.com/about_airsoft.asp
Gun guides:
Spring gun guide (Lord Azrael)- http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=53069
Spring Pistol Guide - http://www.airsoftretreat.com/spring_guide.asp
Spring Rifle Guide (Rustpot)- http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20779
Spring Pistol Buyer's Guide (Rustpot)- http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=20599
Gas Pistol Guide - http://www.airsoftretreat.com/gbb_guide.asp
AEG Guide - http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=38843
Want to talk about the guns?
Spring Discussion Section - http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=21
Gas Discussion Section - http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=19
AEG Discussion Section - http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=20
AS-R has published a number of reviews which can be located here: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/reviews.asp
as well as the fact that members are alway posting their opinions and reviews of airsoft guns within the forums.
Need to hook up with other airsoft enthusiasts in your area?
Players Section - http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=22
Want to put a picture in your post/thread?: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=74914
There is quite a bit more to the Airsoft Retreat site, so take the time to look things over in detail. As mentioned, this is just a starting point.
To Contact Staff: staff@airsoftretreat.com
snicker: snicker@airsoftretreat.com
RLB: rlb@airsoftretreat.com
Kiss My Asahi: Kiss_My_Asahi@airsoftretreat.com
Avatars . . .
Some love'em some hate'em, but we all have to live with them. Not everyone seems to know how to add an avatar, though. is not an avatar. It's a flag that lets us know you don't know how to add an avatar. I saw a page in these forums that had a single working avatar and 15 red X's. This is your HOW TO guide. Please read it carefully.
First, what is an avatar?
"The incarnation of a Hindu deity, especially Vishnu, in human or animal form."
Well, we're not in India and I doubt there are many Hindus here, so, in our modern computer world, an avatar is an image that gives a visual representation of you. There isn't really a right or wrong image to use, provided it isn't vulger or offensive and that it's 64x64. Good avatar examples are your favorite firearm, your favorite cartoon character (Homer, Peter Griffin, etc), the patch of your favorite military unit or a picture of you in your gear.
Adding an avatar is easy and every member of this forum is cabable of doing it right. You start by clicking the Profile Link at the top of the Airsoft Retreat web page. You will need to be logged in to edit your profile. Once you are on the Edit User Profile page, look about half way down on the left column. You will see the following field:
The first thing you need to notice is that http:// is already there. It's there to let you know that it MUST be part of the URL for your avatar to appear. When pasting or typing the URL to your avatar, be careful not to have it there twice.
A good avatar URL looks like this:
http://www.blessy.com/airsoft/avatars/av_1911_13.jpg
Bad examples (from our own forum) are:
http://http://www.classiccomics.net/apparel/SouthParkCartmanPissedOffShirta.JPG
http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/
http:///
http://www.familyguyfiles.com/episodes/showfull.php?image=FG-307_2.png
There are a few steps you can take to prevent the above problems. Don't type random stuff. Test the avatar and remove it if it doesn't work. Make sure you aren't linking to a site that doesn't allow direct linking like Geocities. don't use a URL that contains php, asp, cgi, perl, etc script. The URL must be a simple link to an image. Last, and most important, double and tripple check the URL!
If you find an image and want to use it as your avatar, save it and make sure you can edit it to be 64x64 in size and then use one of the FREE avatar hosting services offered by Whistler and Joesnuffie. On JoeSnuffie's upload page, you will find some avatars that you are free to use. More will be added as time allows.
Whistler: Email your avatars to him at airsoftretreatavatars@hotmail.com
See this link for further info - http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=42819
JoeSnuffie Go to http://www.blessy.com/airsoft to upload your avatars
Once again, this is just meant as an introduction to the AS-R community and in no way begins to cover all the aspects of airsoft. It is just meant to help you navigate your way through these forums and to get you started. ASR has many more resources besides the ones already mentioned. Enjoy your stay here at ASR!
Thanks & props to rantng for the idea and the majority of the content in this post and joesnuffie for the avatar info.
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AS-R Starting Guide - IMPORTANT PLACE TO START!
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